This invention relates to a printing apparatus for performing printing operations on a document containing magnetic stripe means on which information with respect to the printing operation is recorded and/or read therefrom to aid in the automation of the printing process, and more particularly to the positioning of the magnetic stripe means on the document and its cooperative association with other elements of the printing apparatus to facilitate the reading and/or writing of information on the magnetic stripe.
In an application Ser. No. 433,096 filed Jan. 14, 1974 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,068 (continuation of Ser. No. 249,856 filed May 3, 1972, now abandoned) entitled "Printer Having Document Thickness Compensation Device," by 0. Kwan, J. J. Boyce and W. A. Ottersen, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, there is described printing apparatus which may be used in a bank teller terminal for performing printing operations on a document such as a bank passbook. The document is inserted in a document holder in the printing apparatus and the teller or operator either manually moves the holder with the document positioned therein to the desired printing position or by key operation actuates a document holder transport means to move the document into the desired print position. The operator must then transmit information with respect to the account number to a central processor or computer before the print operation takes place.
It would be desirable to automate the printing process as much as possible by eliminating any non-essential manual operations in order to restrict the possibility of human error.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a magnetic stripe or patch is affixed to the document such as a bank passbook, on which pertinent information, e.g. account number, balance, next line to be printed, etc., is recorded and/or read therefrom by a magnetic read/write head assembly which scans the magnetic stripe. The print apparatus may be automatically controlled by the information appearing on the magnetic stripe and then updated for performing subsequent printing operations thereon. The magnetic stripe on the document must be aligned with other apparatus of the printing device when the document is inserted therein to facilitate the read/write functions. The magnetic stripe should be flattened as much as possible by the platen, and the magnetic head should accommodate variations in the surface of the magnetic stripe.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved document printing apparatus for printing on a document having a magnetic stripe positioned thereon, which positioning is compatible with the printing apparatus and facilitates the printing process.
Another object of this invention is to provide the multiple use of the platen used in the printing operation to clamp and smooth the magnetic stripe for facilitating the reading and/or writing thereon and to avoid error in so doing due to wrinkled or crumpled magnetic stripe surfaces.
A further object of this invention is to provide a magnetic scanning head for reading and/or writing on a magnetic stripe on a document to be printed upon which accommodates variations in the surface of the scanned magnetic stripe and different passbook thicknesses.